Aneue
by spudz
Summary: Naraku poisons Sango forcing her to relive her worst memories. With the night of the new moon upon them, Inuyasha must watch over a weakening Sango. As he gets to see glimpses into her tragic past, he discovers new aspects of their friendship.
1. Chapter 1 Harmony of Movement

_Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters._

Summary: Naraku poisons Sango and insidiously forces her to relive her worst memories. With the night of the new moon upon them, Inuyasha must watch over a weakening Sango. As he gets to see glimpses into the tragic past of the slayer, Inuyasha discovers new aspects of their friendship.

**Chapter 1 Harmony of Movement**

"Wind Scar!"

The feral demon was quite elusive as it skillfully dodged Inuyasha's powerful attacks.

The latest demon was unexpectedly giving the group a difficult time. It possessed the stature of what would merely be considered a tall human, but it was anything but human. Covered all over in a heavy, golden coat of fur and armed with sharp talons, the demon would crouch down on all fours before pouncing off of its muscular hind legs to attack with a rabid, bloodlust look in its amber eyes. It had the perfect combination of power and agility united under its truly ferocious, fiery nature in battle.

"Inuyasha, the demon has two jewel shards in his left leg and one in his right shoulder," informed Kagome. Inuyasha nodded in confirmation.

"Damn wench," the demon said, "why did you have to spoil my secret?" He directed his attention towards Kagome and swung his claws with full force sending a barrage of talons at her. Miroku quickly jumped in front of her and spun his staff as fast as he could effectively deflecting the talons.

"Hmm…not bad monk," said the demon smugly as he regenerated new talons with a sickly crunching sound coming from his claws.

"Miroku, protect Kagome," instructed Inuyasha as he charged towards the beast and swung his Tetsusaiga. However, the demon leapt off from the ground and onto the broad side of Inuyasha's sword. "Haha too slow," mocked the demon arrogantly before he pushed his entire body weight down onto Inuyasha's sword, causing Inuyasha to lose his balance and fall forward. "Whaa," remarked the surprised Inuyasha as he looked up to see the spinning form of the demon doing a flip over his head. Then Inuyasha grunted as he felt a sharp pain across his shoulderblade.

"Inuyasha!" screamed a concerned Kagome. Inuyasha clumsily took a few steps forward before regaining his balance and composure enough to quickly distance himself from the demon.

"_Dammit,_" Inuyasha thought to himself, "_this guy is too fast for me. With those jewel shards in his leg he can dodge my attacks. But he is way too cocky. I'm going to have to play this smart."_

As Inuyasha recovered from the demon's attack, he heard the whizzing of Sango's Hiraikotsu as it intercepted the course of the demon, who had already begun approaching with unnatural speed to attack Inuyasha again.

Inuyasha studied the dodging movement of the demon and he smirked.

Sango, seated on Kirara, quickly swooped by Inuyasha and grabbed him by his arm, lifting him up into the air.

Inuyasha had taken note of it earlier, but Sango's attack confirmed his theory. When the demon was attacked, he would favor his right side when he dodged as he used his left leg strengthened by jewel shards to push off the ground.

"Sango, I have a plan," said Inuyasha.

Inuyasha and Sango made eye contact and gave each other a nod of understanding.

Sango gripped Inuyasha's arm tightly and swung him into place on the ground before she hurled her weapon from the sky with a yell, "Hiraikotsu!"

"Are you kidding me, the half demon couldn't even catch me and you think _you_ can hit me," the demon gloated as it casually dodged Sango's attack.

Then Inuyasha, carefully noting the Hiraikotsu's rhythmic movement as it continued to fly through the air, waited for the right moment to unleash his attack.

The demon snorted, "I'm too fast that won't work on…"

The demon was cut off as he caught a glimpse of a bright flash of yellow light heading towards him from his left. "Wind Scar!"

The demon barely escaped Inuyasha's attack earning him a slight cut across his left arm. In his evasion, he leaped predictably to his right and inadvertently into the path of Sango's unrelenting rebounding weapon. Shrieking as the weapon drove into his shoulder, the demon plummeted forcefully to the ground, uplifting the surrounding ground and rocks. The resulting hazy cloud of dust and dirt was illuminated only by the tiny glimmer of the jewel shard that had been extracted from the demon's shoulder by Sango's attack.

Inuyasha gave Sango a smirk of approval before he entered the cloud of dust.

He was impressed by how well Sango, a mere human, could keep up with him. She had skillfully thrown her Hiraikotsu at the perfect angle and with just the right amount of force to distract the demon for both Inuyasha's attack and her own devastating second blow to hit. Their movement had been so in tune with each other during the battle that the demon was no match for their teamwork.

After picking up the jewel shard, Inuyasha headed towards the crater that cradled the unconscious demon to collect the remaining jewel shards. But he was stunned as he felt an immense surge of power erupt from the center of the crater. He squinted to see past the lingering dust particles in the air down towards the crater's lowest point of depression. His eyes finally focused on the darkened figure of the demon through the hazy cloud. The demon violently jerked upright before escaping Inuyasha's sight in an instantaneous moment.

"Huh, where'd he go?" Inuyasha thought aloud as he frantically spun around trying to locate the ferocious demon. When he couldn't sense the demon's presence near him, Inuyasha determined that he was no longer the target.

Alarmed, he protectively rushed towards his friends fearing for their safety. Only after two large strides did Inuyasha hear a loud yelp.

His heart sunk as his sensitive nose drew in the infectious scent that floated through the air…

this overwhelming, familiar scent of blood…

Sango's blood.

**TOBECO.**

_Sneak Peak of things to come... _

**"All she saw was the bloodied ground before her, and all she heard was the deafening drone of nothingness around her."**

_My first fanfic. All feedback is welcome._

-_Thanks for reading-_


	2. Chapter 2 Poisoned

Sango was on her way to retrieve her Hiraikotsu embedded in the ground when she was caught off guard by the demon who seemingly emerged from thin air right in front of her. "I'll make you pay for that," sneered the demon as he brought down his claws with unimaginable speed. In what little time she had, the unarmed Sango defensively brought her arm up to protect her head.

Sango released a loud yelp from her mouth as the demon's talons dug into her forearm. In spite of her injury, Sango's slayer training kicked in and gave her the responsiveness to immediately take advantage of the demon's close proximity and counter with a powerful kick that sent the demon flying backwards. The demon recovered quickly and charged at her again, but this time she was ready. The demon came at her with both arms swinging but she crouched to the ground and in a swift, fluid motion rolled behind the demon and unsheathed her hidden blade to slice another jewel shard out from its left leg.

The demon was furious after having lost another one of its precious jewel shards. Fueled with hatred and adrenaline, it lunged at the slayer but was halted when Kirara protectively jumped in front of her mistress. The demon hesitated and then saw a fast approaching figure in red. Knowing that it was no match in its weakened state against Inuyasha, it quickly dashed into the protective cover of the surrounding forest.

_"There's no way I'm letting you get away,"_ thought Inuyasha as he was already preparing to leap into the forest in pursuit of the demon. But before he could take off, a horde of Naraku's poisonous insects intercepted him. Inuyasha easily deflected their attacks with a blast of his Wind Scar, but the insects had provided enough of a distraction for the demon to successfully escape.

Suddenly, he was alerted by Kagome's panicked scream, "INUYASHA!"

* * *

Sango was reaching her hand out to pick up her Hiraikotsu when she suddenly gasped as she felt an excruciating stinging on her left arm where the demon had wounded her. "Sssss," she hissed as she abruptly dropped to her knees from the shock of the unbearable pain. She instinctively moved her uninjured hand to cover the slash that went across her left inner arm down to the palm of her hand. Blood seeped through her cupped hand. Her eyes fell onto the sight of her crimson-covered arm as she tried to make sense of the perplexing pain that plagued her body.

She faintly heard Kagome scream alarmingly. Inuyasha's name would be the last distinctive thing she would hear for awhile.

* * *

Now, kneeling with her torso scrunched over, Sango tightly gripped her inner forearm as if the pressure would soothe the searing pain within. Kagome rushed to her side and called out to her, desperately seeking a response from her friend. Kagome was especially concerned because Sango would usually make an effort to reassure her that her injuries were not as bad as they appeared because she hated inconveniencing her friends. But no response came. Kagome and, now, Miroku were on either side of her as a worried Inuyasha stood protectively over them.

Sango's gaze was distant as she mustered all her energy to block out the pain and everything else going on around her in her effort to merely stay conscious. All she saw was the bloodied ground before her, and all she heard was the deafening drone of nothingness around her. Then, she shut her eyes tightly as she attempted to fight off another wave of pain that came over her. Sango's cringing form suddenly relaxed as she fell forward with a whimper. Miroku caught the unconscious girl in his arms as he gave Inuyasha an entreating look.

Inuyasha responded with a firm yet sympathetic nod.

**TO BE CONTINUED.**

_All feedback welcome._

_-Thanks for reading-_


	3. Chapter 3 Akumu Doku

Inuyasha held the injured slayer in his arms as he sprinted ahead of the others towards Sango's best chance for survival. He held her close somehow hoping that his tight embrace could protect her from her internal pain. As Sango began trembling in his arms, Inuyasha pushed himself even harder to quicken his pace.

"Kaede, help!" shouted Inuyasha as he bursted into her hut frantically. Kaede's face was filled with shock as she took in the sight of the frail-looking girl in Inuyasha's arms, but many years of experience quickly threw her back to the reality of the situation and into action. She calmly unrolled a mat on which Inuyasha carefully laid the slayer.

Inuyasha was filled with guilt as he helplessly watched Kaede inspect and clean Sango's wound. Inuyasha thought to himself, _"I should've been there to protect her. If only..,_" but he was interrupted when the rest of the group finally arrived and crowded into the hut anxiously awaiting news about Sango.

"What horrible luck," came a little voice. "Master Miyoga!" exclaimed Shippou, "what are you doing here?" The tiny flea responded, "I heard rumors that a demon with a powerful toxin was travelling this way and I came to investigate."

"Then, Master Miyoga, do you know what Sango's been poisoned with?" asked Kagome.

"Indeed. It is called the Akumu Doku," responded Miyoga.

"Ah, yes," interjected Kaede, "I have heard about this poison before but have never seen its effects for myself. I hear it causes severe emotional distress by plaguing the victim with nightmares," she said as she carefully peeled off yet another bloodied cloth that had been soaked through from stemming the blood flow from Sango's forearm.

Miyoga continued to explain, "Yes, a truly vile poison, the akumu doku forces one to relive one's worst memories as nightmares. Such a powerful poison was once used by the warring tribes against their opponents. Once infected by the poison, the soldiers would be forced to relive the painful and gruesome experiences that come with war – bloodied bodies, fallen comrades, the trauma of taking another human life. Under such emotional stress, the soldiers became trapped in their nightmares and were helpless against the forces of their merciless foes. Often, those who were infected never returned to their original state of mind and...and uhh..uhh...nevermind," Miyoga tried to digress.

"And what!" demanded Miroku.

"And...a-ahem," Miyoga cleared his throat before grimly announcing, "most people die within half a day of being infected due to the emotional trauma caused on the body."

Miroku's gaze fell to the ground as he struggled to catch his breath with this revelation.

Shippou, trying his best to hold back tears in his eyes, muttered, "Bu-bu-but there's a cure right?"

Miyoga replied, "There is."

Miroku's head shot up immediately as he listened attentively.

"However, it will be quite tricky to acquire it."

"Well, out with it already. How do we get the cure?" demanded Inuyasha.

"Ah, the cure for the poison is the blood of the demon who infected the person. It must be mixed with common medicinal herbs and then both ingested and applied directly onto the wound. Speaking of blood..." a loud sucking sound was heard shortly before...

_SMACK!_

A squished Miyoga fell, wafting like a leaf, from Inuyasha's nose as he cautioned, "uhh but you do need a significant amount of the demon's blood for it to be effective."

"Alright, then it's settled. Kagome and I will go in search of this demon and kill it in order to save Sango…" said Miroku commandingly.

"Miroku..." muttered a concerned Kagome.

"Wait a minute, you must be crazy if you think I'm just going to sit around while you guys get your butts kicked by some demon." snapped Inuyasha. In response, Miroku reasoned, "Inuyasha you don't have a choice. It's the night of the new moon. With you out there in your human form, you'll be even more vulnerable than the two of us."

"Keh, you don't have to make me sound like such a weakling," Inuyasha snapped as he gave a small pout. "Besides, you can't risk Naraku or one of his minions spotting you," continued the monk. "But…" Inuyasha tried to plead once again when suddenly Miroku's expression grew serious as he interrupted, "Inuyasha, no one would prefer to stay more than me." He solemnly directed his gaze towards Sango's pale face before continuing, "I'm leaving her to you, Inuyasha. Please take good care of her until I come back."

"I will," assured Inuyasha.

* * *

Outside as the sun began to set, a transformed Kirara gave a soft mew as she held a piercing, yet somber gaze directed towards Kaede's hut. She stood ready in quiet apprehension of the important mission to save Sango.

"Here you go, Kagome" said the tiny kitsune as he clumsily handed Kagome her knapsack, unwieldy in his hands.

"Thanks, Shippou," responded Kagome with a comforting smile acknowledging the kitsune's desire to help in the midst of the dire situation.

Miroku emerged from the hut with a determined stride, "Let's go, Kagome. There is no time to waste," he declared as he mounted Kirara.

"Right," responded Kagome as she gathered her bow and arrows before climbing onto Kirara as well.

"Don't worry, guys, I'll take care of things here," assured Shippou.

"We're counting on you," replied Kagome.

Kirara, whose pensive gaze had not strayed from Kaede's hut, finally blinked and mustered up the will to bury her own fears and focus her attention on the task at hand. With Miroku and Kagome on her back, she gave forth a tenacious roar before leaping into the sky with new-found resolve to save her beloved mistress.

**TO BE CONTINUED.**

_All feedback welcome._

_-Thanks for reading-_


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